Patients shunted out, as UP minister visits hospital

In an effort to impress an UP minister, hospital and local authorities shunted out patients ahead of the minister’s visit. The incident happened when Uttar Pradesh minister for technical and medical education, Ashutosh Tandon, was visiting the SN Medical College (SNMC) in Agra. The hospital usually used to be filled with a lot more patients than its capacity, which is why hospital and local authorities decided to shift patients elsewhere in order to reduce clutter and present a good image of the hospital. Patients had a tough time dealing with this hurried shifting, and many of those shifted abruptly were patients in critical condition.

Some unfortunate patients were shifted to the open hospital ground, where they had to deal with the blazing sun, all while managing their dangling IV fluid and oxygen bottles. Sources said that the temperature outside was a roasting 45 degree Celsius when the patients were shifted to the open hospital ground.

However, SNMC principal Dr Saroj Singh said that there was no inconvenience caused to patients. He said that he had visited the emergency ward in the morning and he did not get any complaints about patients being shifted elsewhere. He said that he would have definitely taken action against those involved if patients were shifted in such inhumane manner.